Thanks Plastique. This leaves me scratching my head. The guys on this forum (you, Ross, Karl) don't think the transmission is all that bad yet most journalists pan the transmission. If you listen to them, the transmission is a huge letdown and just ruins the car. Normally, journalists are willing to overlook shortcomings of an Aston because of its presence, heritage, etc., but they were almost universally critical of the transmission. Strange.

 

Thanks for clarifying, Ross. One thing I did notice is that when the car is in Sport mode, the throttle response is very, very responsive. So when the car is driven slowly in Sport, the car may hesitate if your right foot is even slightly moving at all on throttle. I noticed this on my friend's 458 as well when driving slowly and I thought something was wrong. He noticed it too later, and when he took it to the dealer later, the Ferrari mechanic told him that it was normal and to drive faster lol.

My one question to you Ross is, what was your driving technique during gear changes? There are varied opinions but my sales person explained that Aston marketed the original Sportshift trannies wrong in the beginning by telling people to drive them as automated paddle shifters. People were disappointed with the way the SS I's drove. The SS II's were a big improvement.
He reemphasized that it should be thought of as a manual and between gear shifts a soft "toe roll" would suffice.
To be honest, during my short drive I just kept the throttle down, as I wanted to experience the hyper shifts, which to me were quick and smooth. I can't remember if I downshifted much from 3 -> 2. Other gear shifts were fine, no hesitation.

 

Dave,

I think what reviewers are reviewing and what we're reviewing are different. If you look at it objectively and just compare the car as a 200k car, how does it stack up with other 200k cars? Off the top of my head this would include the 458, 12C, Bentley, and Huracan. All of these cars have a better transmission. If you drop it down a notch to the Porsche 911, Maserati Gran Turismo, and Jag (multiples), they also have better transmissions. And if you drop it down further to BMW, Audi, and Mercedes, even they have better transmissions. I do think the reviewers are being a little bit overly harsh since Aston doesn't have the R&D and is still handmade but most reviewers don't care about that. Chris Harris's review was probably the best that I recall. He give it a minus but didn't flog it like others.

I'm not interested in buying at the current price point. The car ticks all of the boxes for me but one and at 200k, I expect all boxes ticked. If the car was 125-150k I'd almost surely bite.

 

The dealer told me exactly what your dealer said. Treat it like a manual to smooth it out if you want. I drove both ways and feel you really don't need to lift. It's smooth enough. On the SS II(and I) this was needed but on this car I don't think you need to. If my wife was in the car, I'd probably lift a little on shifts to keep it smooth.

The hypershift was impressive. It was the balance I expect from an Aston where it was quick but not too harsh and felt refined. However with all of the torque you still need to hold on . I think this car would be a blast on the track!

I'm going to take the Scud out today to hopefully blur my memory of the V12S. It's so close to perfect...soooo close.

 

Well here's the thing...my opinion is that the transmission is great for what suits my individual needs. It is the purpose for which you are going to buy the car that must suit your needs. I made the mistake of buying 2 Astons (v8v, DBS) in the past sight unseen without a test drive (call me crazy). The cars were fine when delivered, but again if I had test driven those, I probably would not have bought them due to lackluster power.

My purpose and goals have changed now. I have 3 manual cars of which my DD is an S260. I absolutely love this car but this is what will be replaced by the V12VS. I am looking for something a bit more comfortable and easier to drive, but yet still has a lot of power and rawness with excellent handling. The V12VS does this for me. I track Lotus heavily but the V12VS will not be a track car for me so I don't expect super track performance like lightning fast shifts in gears.
My 2 goals, well 3, were: 1) does this car have presence - goes without saying. I like the aggressiveness of the V12VS. I used to not like the vents in the hood - thought it broke up the classic lines in the Aston. But this is not a classic Aston (yet). It is aggressive, and this I like. 2) does it have enough power and torque - absolutely way better than my previous Astons and the delivery of power and torque is immense! Oh and V12???? Get outta here! I daresay the exhaust note sounds better than a 599 (did I really just say that?).
3) Most importantly, how is the tranny??? Don't know what all the fuss is about, but for normal driving and spirited runs, it more than exceeded what I was expecting. I thought in would be feeling the bang of an old SMG. Not so. True it is not the fastest SCT gearbox, it could be quicker. But for the street it is fast and smooth enough. Keep in mind there may even be software upgrades as time goes on - similar to what Ferrari did to the 430's (08 transmissions were much more refined than the 05's. I had an 05 which I absolutely loved).
We all know Aston is riding on some old technology and SCT's will be a thing of the past. But that is part of the automotive character I enjoy. That is why I am keeping my 16M vs a 458. I thoroughly enjoy feeling the gear change sensations. I love the mechanical nature of the manual in my CGT but I also love the F1 in my 16M. The V12VS is an obvious 3rd but it has character. If I really wanted smooth, I'd just get a NoCT and buy a Tesla, no thanks.

Journalists are always reviewing the latest and greatest so there expectations are high for each new model released. SCT's are becoming antiquated so they are forced to judge this car against all the other DCT's out there? Not fair. It is "old" technology and it won't ever compare to the lambos and Ferrari SCT's. But look at the Huracan and all current F cars....all DCT's. So the V12VS is starting off with all cards against it.
Bottom line, you have to test drive this car to see if it will suit your needs.

 

Damn, and here I was hoping you'd buy the gray one and sell it to me in two years. I agree with you on the value proposition, but then again, I prefer to buy lightly used cars. The bath I took on my bought-new V12V was really disappointing.

It's interesting to me that you found the old V12 to be underpowered. That wasn't my feeling at all. In fact, if you took the TC/SC off, you needed to be really careful or you could have the back end of the car in the front! If you think the S has a lot of power and the last V12 didn't, this new one must be an absolute beast. I miss is the enormous torque band of the V12V. The scud is scintillating above 5000 rpm, but you need to rev it to have it come alive (which it admittedly does in a big way)

Yeah, I can't see tracking this car very often either. In the end, it's a heavy, luxo GT. It'd be fun to track it on occasion, but you certainly wouldn't buy it as your "track-day car." As long as the transmission is quick shifting (i.e., there's no ponderous lag between pulling a paddle and the gear change being completed) and is fun on mountain roads, it would be good for my purposes as well.

Agree that the journalists drive the latest and greatest, but they've always seemed to give Aston a pass on using older tech. I suppose though that it's old tech like a big, gas-guzzling engine and a manual gearbox that they're okay with because they harken back to the golden years of cars/racing. I suppose they are less willing to give Aston a pass on newer tech that Aston employs like automated manuals. Bottom line, if you're going to move to a newer technology, you need to execute well, otherwise, you're better off sticking to older technology and calling it a "purist's" car.

 

Just to clarify, in regards to underpowered, I was referring to the previous Astons that I had owned. I agree with you, the old V12V has a lot of power and torque. I drove my friend's a while back and like you say, you can wheel spin the car easily. Plenty of power and impressive. But for my daily, I'm going to dumb down to a paddle shifter.

I also agree with others on the price point being rather high. Of all brands I have owned, I have always lost $ the most on Astons - even when buying them used. So starting above $200k is a heavy hit on the wallet. In a year, a low mileage one may be in the $160 - $180k range, who knows?
Problem is I don't think I can wait that long

 

That's what got me with my V12V. I had no intention of buying it at the time. I just saw it on the showroom when I took my V8V in for service. I took it out for a test drive and it was done for me. I even rationalized the purchase with thoughts that it may be a "good investment" as one of the last manual V12s to be built. While those cars may be a collector's item someday, the reality was that I was never going to hold onto it long enough to see any appreciation. Oh well, I did enjoy the car. In fact, I was on cloud 9 for months. I considered it to be the first true "supercar" I owned.

 

Just signed on the dotted line....picking up the car this weekend. Oh joy!

 

Will be very interested to hear your impressions.

Can't believe you will let the S260 go, though...

 

I know that was a really tough choice and I'm already regretting that part....
But very excited about the V12VS

 

Congratulations! I hope you'll keep sharing photos and experiences along the way.

 

Congratulations! You act fast, that's for sure!

 

Awesome, I'd love to see the beast some day on a drive. I should add I'd love to drive BEHIND it

 

What took you so long? Congrats on the new ride. You're a lucky guy. Can't wait to see the pics!